Slat-and-wire-fence machine



(No Model.)

H. SNYDER, H. STAPLES 8c M. BARB.

SLAT AND WIRE FENCE MACHINE.

No. 395,853. Y Patented Jan. 8, 1889 NiTED terns rrrcn.

.ATENT HENRY SXYDER, l-IIRAM STAPLES, AND MATT BARR, OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN.

FENCE MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 395,853, dated January 8, 1889.

Application filed September 19, 1888. Serial No. 285,812. No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, HENRY SNYDER, H IRAM STAPLES, and MATT BARR, citizens of the United States, residing at Battle Creek, in the county of Calhoun and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improiements in Slat-andJVire -Fence Machines; and we do hereby declare the follow ing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention. relates to improvements in machines for making slat-and-wire or picket fences of the class in which pickets are secured bet-ween strands consisting of two wires by twisting the wires together between the pickets, and particularly to that class of machines in which the fence is made at the point and in the position where it is to be permanently located.

The object of our invention is to provide a fence-machine which shall possess superior advantages over others which have preceded it as to simplicity, weight, durability, and strength.

A further object of our invention is to provide an improved gripping device for holding the machine stationary while the picket is being inserted and the strands of wire twisted.

A further object is to provide an improved means for operatin g the upright in which the twister is mounted, to provide an improved gage or regulating device for regulating and varying the distance between the pickets, and, finally, to provide an improved tension device.

\Ve have illustrated in the accompanying drawings special means for carrying out our invention, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of our machine with a picket inserted between the strands of wire ready for the twist-er to be operated. 2 is a perspective showing the two parts of our tension apparatus. Fig. 3 is an elevation of our twisting device, showing the operating-barand gearing. Fig. 4 is a detail view of our clutch or gripping device, and Fig. 5 is a detail of our tension device with the two parts one upon the other and the wire inserted.

Referring now by letter, A is an upright twister frame mounted upon rollers a, in which the twisting-gear is mounted.

B is a sliding bar connected to the twisterframe A by means of the iron brace b and the lever C. This lever C is fulcrumed at the two points 0 and c, and is slotted at c to allow for unevenness in ground over which the fence is laid. The sliding bar B is also provided with a clutch or gripping device, D, whose function is to clutch a picket already woven for the purpose of holding the bar B forward, a picket inserted, and the twister operated. This clutch is preferably bolted or otherwise attached to the edge of the sliding bar B, as shown, and it consists of the supports (1, the handle and operating-lever (Z, the connecting-rods (Z and the claws or grips proper, (1 It is pivoted at d" and d to the supports (Z, and is jointed at (2, (Z and (Z Its operation is obvious.

Two L'-irons, E E, are pivoted, as shown, upon the twister-frame A, and have cast upon them square lugs 6, upon which a gage or regulating device, 2, works. The L-irons pass through holes in the sliding bar B, and thus linked together the two uprights A and B are always kept in direct line with one another. The L-irons are pivoted to A, so that the uprights may be free to move'up and down over uneven ground independently of each other.

Our twisting device consists of a series of gear-wheels, G .G, each having two perforations to receive the strands of wire, a second series of gears, l-I, intermeshing with the gears G, and a double-handled operating-lever, I, by which, through a pair of bevel-gears, motion is imparted to the wheels G G, and the wires are twisted. lVe have found it a great advantage to have the operating-lever doublehandled, as it removes strain from the machine when the lever is operated.

As illustrated herein, our machine is adapted to twist five strands of wire; but it is obvious that any number may be employed. Three pieces of line-wire are preferably employed, one being arranged near the top, another near the bottom, and a third midway between these two. These pairs of wires are connected to the strong post F,which is temporarily braced stationary while the twister-frame A is moved in any suital ile manner, and to a starting-post; ot' the usual, eonstriurtion. Upon the post I? are fastened the tension devices .I, tlHH'Ql'KBlI] one necessary for each wire employed-in the present instance six. This tension deviee is made in two parts, as shown in Figs. 2 and The upper or eoneaved part is grooved at j, and the piojeeting flange of its counterpart is slotted, as shown, to permit the wire to pass through it, and acts as a guide for the same. The eonvex portion is also slightly groovet l on its upper face. As the wire is passed between these parts, it is bent, as shown, to produce resistance, and the same is regulated by means of the :uljusting-niu;j.

()ur invention has nowbeen suttieieiitlydeseribed, it is thought, to enable its operation to be readily understood. Assuming, then, that the line-winks havebeen passed through i the twisterqvheels, fastened to the startingpost, and made taut in the teiision-elamps, and the cluteh or gripping device t'astt'aled to the starting-post or a previously-woven picket, making fast the uprightIl, the operation is as follows: by a ba ekwa rd movement of the operating-lever (i the twister-itraine A is formal forward, the fulcrum oi the lever being'at c. When this is done, a picket is insertedbetween the strands of wire with which it is to be woven and the opm'ating-lever (I pushed forward, thereby drawing the upright A baekward. In this movement the n-ojeetion on the gage e bears against the new]yinserted pieket and torees it into place. \Vhen the picket is in its proper plaee, the twist ing mech anism is operated by a movement of the double (rank I, any desired number of turns being made. One picket has now been made a partof the t'enee. To proceed, release the clutch I) from its hold upon the pieket and foree the lever (1 forward. The point (1 now aets as the lfulermn, and the upright I is moved forward thedistanee of one picket and the eluteh again i'zlstened. This operation is 1 continued until the fence is eompleted. Ifvt- 1 tween each succeeding picket the twister-operating lever I movedin the opposite direetion, and a twist ol the wire in the opposite direction is therel'iy given. This isto remove and avoid ceiling and twisting ot' the strands in front ot the machine.

Having now deseribed our invention, we ('lai1n 1. In a slatatnd-wire-fenee machine, the eombii'iation, with a twister-trame, of an upright parallel. thereto, L-irons pivoted to the twister-trame and having a sliding eonneetion with-the upright, and a lever t'or operating the twister frame and upright, wherel'iy inde- ')endent movement; of the twister-frame and upright over roughand uneven ground is permitted, substantially as described.

:2. In a slat-and-wire-fence maehine, the Combination of an upright twister-trame, an upright tlexibly eonneeted to the twistert'raine, and a lever eonneet ing the two, slotted at its bearing upon the upright to permit in dependent movement of the u n'ights, substantially as described.

3. A tension deviee t'or wires, consist ing of two relatively-adjustable parts, one eonvex and the other eoneave, the former fitting upon the latter tohold the wire taut, eaeh partsnitably grooved tor the passage of the wire, and the eonvexpart having a. slotted overlapping flange for guiding the wires, substantially as deseribed.

at. In a slat-and-wire-tenee machine, the (.ombination of a twister-lranie and. upright l so eonneeted tog'ttlun' that they maybe moved toward and from one an 1 ther, the upright being provided with a elutch or gripping device consisting ot' the braee (I, the handle (1, eonnectinga'ods and claws d", substantially as deseribed.

In testimony whereot' we altix out-signatures in. presence oi" two witnesses.

HENRY SN Y 1.) ER. llIRAM S'IAPLES. MATT BARR.

Witnesses:

BEIJIJE A. U'ornms, JOEL C. HOPKINS. 

